Local group participates in global Occupy Wall Street protest

People hold signs during the Occupy Tuscaloosa protest held on the corner of McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street on Saturday.

Photo | Marion R. Walding

By Wayne GraysonStaff Writer

Published: Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 6:06 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | Six weeks after its birth on the streets of Manhattan, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread not only across the country, but across the world.

On Saturday, the movement spread to Tuscaloosa.

Around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, about two dozen protesters stood with signs in hand along McFarland Boulevard near the University Mall parking lot.

Many of the signs referenced the worldwide movement’s “We are the 99 percent” slogan. One read “RIP American Dream.”

Chris Carmichael’s main motivation for protesting Saturday matches the view of the movement’s 99 percent tenet.

“I’m seeing the biggest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the 1 percent in the history of the country, let alone my lifetime,” Carmichael said.

“I’m excited to see that people in Tuscaloosa are participating.”

John Earl, spokesman for Occupy Tuscaloosa, said the rally was meant to show solidarity with the global cause, explore how the financial collapse has affected those in the community and to educate the community on what was behind the collapse.

“The collapse was the result of a culmination of deregulatory measures that began decades ago,” Earl said. “Some people are using captialism in a way that it was never meant to be used. We’re concerned about the undue political influence that is being had on the economy by a select few people and businesses.

“There’s too much insider stuff going on that is making our economy the opposite of a free market.”

One man, who would only identify himself as Trice, said he was protesting because “corporations now own the U.S. government.”

“In the last 30 years, corporations have more or less taken over our country,” he said. “And both the Republicans and Democrats are inept. They’re both traitors.”

Laila Liddy said she joined the protesters mainly to show solidarity with the whole Occupy movement.

“I think the movement has just been inspiring,” she said. “So many of the people involved are taking time out of their work and busy lives for a very good cause. There has been a lot of personal sacrifice in the last few weeks.”

Liddy said the main reason she protested is the difficulty average Americans have in fighting the will of large corporations.

“The government treats these corporations as individuals, which makes it really hard for people to make a difference since these corporations have so much money and power,” she said.

Tuscaloosa’s version of the Occupy protest wasn’t as hectic as some of the larger cities’ rallies have been in recent days.

Nearly 100 arrests have been made in New York City so far. In Oakland on Tuesday, more than 100 arrests were made and police filled the streets with tear gas after protesters were stopped from re-entering a City Hall plaza they had been cleared from Monday.

In nearby Atlanta, another 50 protesters were arrested.

Earl said a great deal of planning went into Saturday’s protest, with an emphasis on cooperation with the Tuscaloosa Police Department.

“It’s been about six weeks since all of this got started and a lot of people have been wondering where we’re at and what we’ve been doing this whole time is working with the local authorities, getting the proper permits in order to avoid any possibility of inconveniencing them in the slightest way,” Earl said.

Apart from the protest, the Occupy Tuscaloosa group has had five meetings and he said the group encompasses people “from all walks of life.”

“We have had locals ever since the OWS who were asking what they could do to further this cause,” Earl said.

“They came together on social networks. One person involved works with the VA, we have a registered nurse, another person who is a graphic designer, we’ve got students, semi-retired folks and even businessmen.”

<p>TUSCALOOSA | Six weeks after its birth on the streets of Manhattan, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread not only across the country, but across the world.</p><p>On Saturday, the movement spread to Tuscaloosa.</p><p>Around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, about two dozen protesters stood with signs in hand along McFarland Boulevard near the University Mall parking lot. </p><p>Many of the signs referenced the worldwide movement's “We are the 99 percent” slogan. One read “RIP American Dream.”</p><p>Chris Carmichael's main motivation for protesting Saturday matches the view of the movement's 99 percent tenet.</p><p>“I'm seeing the biggest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the 1 percent in the history of the country, let alone my lifetime,” Carmichael said.</p><p>“I'm excited to see that people in Tuscaloosa are participating.”</p><p>John Earl, spokesman for Occupy Tuscaloosa, said the rally was meant to show solidarity with the global cause, explore how the financial collapse has affected those in the community and to educate the community on what was behind the collapse.</p><p>“The collapse was the result of a culmination of deregulatory measures that began decades ago,” Earl said. “Some people are using captialism in a way that it was never meant to be used. We're concerned about the undue political influence that is being had on the economy by a select few people and businesses.</p><p>“There's too much insider stuff going on that is making our economy the opposite of a free market.”</p><p>One man, who would only identify himself as Trice, said he was protesting because “corporations now own the U.S. government.”</p><p>“In the last 30 years, corporations have more or less taken over our country,” he said. “And both the Republicans and Democrats are inept. They're both traitors.”</p><p>Laila Liddy said she joined the protesters mainly to show solidarity with the whole Occupy movement.</p><p>“I think the movement has just been inspiring,” she said. “So many of the people involved are taking time out of their work and busy lives for a very good cause. There has been a lot of personal sacrifice in the last few weeks.”</p><p>Liddy said the main reason she protested is the difficulty average Americans have in fighting the will of large corporations.</p><p>“The government treats these corporations as individuals, which makes it really hard for people to make a difference since these corporations have so much money and power,” she said.</p><p>Tuscaloosa's version of the Occupy protest wasn't as hectic as some of the larger cities' rallies have been in recent days.</p><p>Nearly 100 arrests have been made in New York City so far. In Oakland on Tuesday, more than 100 arrests were made and police filled the streets with tear gas after protesters were stopped from re-entering a City Hall plaza they had been cleared from Monday.</p><p>In nearby Atlanta, another 50 protesters were arrested.</p><p>Earl said a great deal of planning went into Saturday's protest, with an emphasis on cooperation with the Tuscaloosa Police Department.</p><p>“It's been about six weeks since all of this got started and a lot of people have been wondering where we're at and what we've been doing this whole time is working with the local authorities, getting the proper permits in order to avoid any possibility of inconveniencing them in the slightest way,” Earl said.</p><p>Apart from the protest, the Occupy Tuscaloosa group has had five meetings and he said the group encompasses people “from all walks of life.”</p><p>“We have had locals ever since the OWS who were asking what they could do to further this cause,” Earl said.</p><p>“They came together on social networks. One person involved works with the VA, we have a registered nurse, another person who is a graphic designer, we've got students, semi-retired folks and even businessmen.”</p>